One of the hottest teams in the country, the No. 2 Iowa State Cyclones, hosts the No. 9 Kansas Jayhawks in Ames, Iowa on Wednesday evening.
The Cyclones have won 11 straight, are 14-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12, just a half game behind first-place Arizona.
The team’s only loss this season was to current No. 1 Auburn by two points in a Maui Invitational quarterfinal over Thanksgiving. Coach T.J. Otzelberger’s crew has defeated ranked Marquette and Baylor squads, each by double digits.
The Jayhawks have won three straight since a 62-61 loss at home to West Virginia. They're 12-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12. Coach Bill Self’s crew has already won top-25 matchups against Duke and North Carolina this season.
Iowa State are 9-0 at home while Kansas is 2-2 on the road. See below for our experts’ predictions on this key Big 12 contest.
Iowa State is humming, but nearly saw its long winning streak come to a close on the road against Texas Tech on Saturday. A Joshua Jefferson layup forced overtime and two free throws by the junior forward with 4.1 seconds left gave the Cyclones an 85-84 victory.
Curtis Jones scored a game-high 26 points in the victory. He leads five Iowa State players averaging in double figures with 17.3 points per game. Keshon Gilbert is averaging 16.1 points and a team-high 4.7 assists, while Jefferson is averaging 12 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds.
The team committed a season-high 15 turnovers in the win over the Red Raiders, but also shot 52.9 percent from the field.
Meanwhile, Hunter Dickinson posted his eighth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Jayhawks won a battle between two of the country’s top defensive teams with a 54-40 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday.
Dickinson (15.8 ppg, 10.5 rpg) is again pacing Kansas in multiple categories, while South Dakota State transfer Zeke Mayo (14.4 ppg) and veteran guard Dajuan Harris Jr (9.9 ppg, 5.3 apg) continue to support the seven-footer.
It is rare for the Cyclones to play the favorite in this matchup. Kansas has reached the NCAA tournament 34 straight times, even though its 2018 appearance was later vacated. Iowa State, under fourth-year coach Otzelberger, has made it three straight times, including two trips to the Sweet 16. The school is looking for its first trip to the Final Four.
Iowa State is 10-5 against the spread this season, including 5-4 ATS at home. It is 8-2 against the spread in its last 10 games, and 13-0 straight up as a favorite this season.
Kansas is 9-6 ATS overall, including 2-2 on the road. The Jayhawks are 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 games versus Iowa State, and Kansas won its only game as an underdog this season. They are 5-1 ATS in their last six games.
Our experts expect the Cyclones to continue their win streak and remain undefeated at home, but also predict Kansas to stay close and cover the 7.0-point spread as underdogs.
Although Iowa State is a high-flying offense, ranking 11th in the country in scoring at 86.2 points a game, Kansas has done an excellent job keeping the final score down all season.
The Jayhawks are 14th in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 62.1 points a game. Their 15.2 scoring differential is 21st in the nation, although the Cyclones rank fifth in that category at 20.3 points.
Kansas has played to the Over just once in 15 games this year, and the totals in eight of its past nine contests were below 144.0 points.
Although Iowa State has seen final scores above 144 points nine times in its past 12 games, it has gone below that number twice in its past three matchups.
These contests have recently been low-scoring affairs as well, with Kansas and Iowa State playing to the Under six times in their last seven meetings. Look for that streak to continue in Ames on Wednesday.
Read more betting picks and predictions for College Basketball on site.
Kansas | +235 ML |
Iowa State | -290 ML |
Spread | Iowa State -7.0 |
Total Points | O/U 144.0 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.